An Interview with Suzie and Jesse of The Narrative

Jen: Please introduce yourselves and tell me what part you play in The Narrative.

Suzie: My name is Suzie and I play the piano and synth and I sing.

Jesse: (looking at Suzie) I thought you were gonna say ‘I play the part of the princess.’

Suzie: I play the part of the princess.

Jesse: I’m Jessie and I play the guitar and I sing.

Suzie: ‘And I play the part of the prince…ess.’ (laughs all around)

Jen: How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened before?

Suzie: Well on the bottom of our flyer that we’ve been passing around, we listed recommended if you like Death Cab, Lydia, Copland, Relient K, Stars, Straylight Run.

Jesse: A lot of defunct bands.

Suzie: Yeah, a lot of bands that don’t exist anymore. Uh oh, we’re heading down the same road…? Hopefully not.

Jen: Nah, you guys are just taking their place.

Jesse: We’re just getting started.

Suzie: We’re picking up right where they left off.

Jen: What is you favorite thing about Warped Tour?

Suzie: The catering (laughs). Just kidding, we just ate and the catering was delicious, surprising. What’s our favorite part? I don’t know, playing every day? That’s pretty good, but it’s kind of just being on tour. (looks to Jessie)

Jesse: I like meeting new people in bands that I haven’t heard of. I also like being outside everyday.

Jen: But it’s so hot.

Jesse: Yeah but I’d rather be outside every day playing music than in a cold office behind a computer. It’s not for everybody, but it’s what I want.

Jen: What’s the worst thing about Warped Tour?

Suzie: The worst thing? How many pairs of clothes you ruin from sweating.

Jesse: Definitely the sweating. I just like being clean. Maybe some guys live in their sweat and they’re just enjoying it a lot but I like to be clean. I’m used to showering every day pretty much. And it’s hard to stay clean; you can take a shower in the morning and ten minutes later it’s useless.

Suzie: Ten minutes.

Jen: That’s disgusting.

Jesse: That was mean. You just basically called us disgusting.

Jen: I happen to like you guys, so it wasn’t meant to be an insult.

Jesse: You like us but… we’re disgusting.

Jen: Only ‘cause of the sweat. If you were inside all the time, you wouldn’t be disgusting.

Jesse: I guess I can live with that.

Jen: You’re gonna have to.

Jesse: I’m never going outside again.

Jen: How did you guys decide what songs to play on this Warped Tour?

Suzie: We tried to pick the most energetic songs live. We tend to play softer music than most of the bands on the tour so we just wanted to pick the songs that we felt would come across as the most capturing. We picked all songs off of our full length record and I think it’s been going pretty well so far.

Jesse: Pretty much you’re at a place with a bunch of metal or hard-core or pop-punk bands and we’re none of the above so while we want to be different and unique from those bands, at the same time this is an audience that those things appeal to, obviously, so I think we just tried to pick our highest energy songs. Hopefully the kids who do kinda listen to a lot of stuff will come to us because they’re not looking for a specific thing and maybe they’ll hear something they like in us and say hey, that’s different but I like that too.

Jen: How many Warped Tours have you guys been on?

Jesse: This is our first.

Jen: I know it’s not over, but so far, what is you favorite Warped Tour memory?

Suzie: Let’s see…

Jen: Jessie is looking at you very expectantly.

Jesse: Well the thing is, this is only our third day on the tour, and we’re on it for the rest of the tour. So I’m just curious to see what memory she’s got in this short amount of time.

Suzie: Especially knowing that I am not a person that’s particularly good at remembering anything. I would say probably getting to go on stage at really big amphitheaters and see bands that have been around for a long time playing to crowds from that backstage perspective that I’ve never really thought that I would have. That was cool; I got to stand there and watch a bit of Relient K’s set and they had a sea of people. It was just this amazing energy to be like, I’m allowed to be here!

Jen: What about you?

Jesse: I don’t know. I don’t think I’ve formed any major memories that stand out but I’ve definitely been having a good time and meeting a lot of good people and I think that those things will lead to some stand out memories.

Jen: That’s the way to do it. Now, I have an out-there-question, but it’s sort of the signature question. If you were abandoned on Mars with a ukulele and a toaster, which would you use in order to defend yourself against unfriendly aliens?

Suzie: Well… I think I would hope I could figure out three chords on the ukulele and write them a song and then serenade them to sleep so that I could sneak away.

Jesse: Serve them toast for breakfast?

Suzie: Yes, serve them toast for breakfast after we’ve become friends.

Jesse: Suzie’s approach is to make friends with them. I’m gonna smash them with the toaster. They’re getting smashed and them I will write a song about that on the ukulele and I will play it for myself.

Jen: It’s gonna be a best seller.

Jesse: It’s gonna be called ‘Smashed Aliens’ and in parenthesis (toaster).

Jen: So after Warped Tour, what does the rest of the year hold for The Narrative?

Jesse: Well, we’re not sure. We might jump on another tour. It’s been a year now since we released our full-length so I think it’s time to work on some new music and maybe start to record next year.